Politics
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RAY BRICKNELL. Will traditional economic ideologies in Australia survive the pandemic unchanged?
Never waste a crisis – we are hearing this a lot, and for good reason. Covid-19 is presenting politicians with a lot of opportunities to slip significant changes through relatively un-noticed. Continue reading »
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NOEL TURNBULL. Should companies using tax havens get pandemic stimulus funds?
Denmark and France are blocking pandemic financial assistance to any firms registered in tax havens. Continue reading »
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GEOFF DAVIES. The betrayal, corruption and capture of the Liberal Party
The Liberal Party has strayed far from the vision propounded by its founder, Sir Robert Menzies, to the point of being captured by special interests. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. The COVID-19 App
I must admit to a moment of apprehension before unloading the COVID-19 app; anything that involves Amazon or Stuart Robert has to be either incompetent or dodgy or both. Continue reading »
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DUNCAN GRAHAM The year of living disastrously
Most days the ABC website publishes graphs showing the trajectory of Covid-19 cases. The charts feature nine countries including Taiwan, Japan and Australia. Though not Indonesia. Continue reading »
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TONI HASSAN. The earth is breathing easier.
Major cities and their birds are breathing easier. Across China, smog has given way to the colour blue. Even the snow-capped Himalayas are visible from parts of Northern India for the first time in local’s memories. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Spies and non-combatants rehearsing war dances
It is becoming fairly obvious that there is a significant group within Australian government that is spoiling for a major confrontation, perhaps to skirmish level with China. Continue reading »
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WILLIAM BRIGGS. What Drives Peter Hartcher
Peter Hartcher, the Sydney Morning Herald’s international editor, maintains an indefatigable but entirely unedifying assault on China. He is by no means alone in vitriolic attacks. Continue reading »
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GEOFF RABY. PM’s Virus Inquiry was a Lose-Lose Call (AFR 4.5.20)
The Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister have handily demonstrated over the past fortnight how not to get an international inquiry into the origins and early management, or mismanagement, of COVID-19. It has been a useful lesson for students of strategy and how the Government in future might better advance Australian national interests. Continue reading »
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Character Assassination as Journalism & Politics
The notion common humanity presupposes regard for respect, dignity, tolerance, thoughtfulness, generosity and support for non-violence. Recent attacks against the Assistant President of the NSW Upper House, Moslem Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane, displayed none of those qualities. Continue reading »
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HANAN ASHRAWI. A Call to Collective International Action (PLO 26.4.2020)
The future of the region hangs in the balance Continue reading »
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HENRY REYNOLDS. James Cook and the Contested ‘Discovery’ of Eastern Australia
With the widespread reporting of this year’s diminished Anzac Day, it seems we have forgotten another notable Cook cancellation. Continue reading »
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Badly designed. Badly marketed. The virus that has infected the Australian government
In the same week that Labor front-benchers Kristina Keneally and Tim Watts released a discussion paper examining Australia’s cyber resilience the Government was battling to convince us to download an app that IT experts and lawyers warn has basic design flaws. Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI. Morrison and Dutton wash their hands of the plight of overseas students?
Australia’s international education industry has boomed for 20 years. Will Morrison and Dutton continue to wash their hands of overseas students? Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Catholic Church duplicitous and unaccountable in needs-based school funding says Malcolm Turnbull
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has detailed private conversations with a Catholic Church leader to substantiate claims that the church has been duplicitous and unaccountable in distributing taxpayer money within its school system. Continue reading »
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JOHN DWYER. Palmer’s Pills, all 32 million of them!
Sydney Morning Herald, March 3, 2022. A grateful nation rewards Clive Palmer with the Prime Ministership for using his personal fortune to save Australia from a Covid catastrophe. President Trump tweets his congratulations noting that the two men are “kindred spirits”. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Cook and the continuing culture wars.
He was also an 18th century Englishman, convinced of the innate superiority of his race, his culture and his class. Continue reading »
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MARK BUCKLEY. The ABC is their new target
In 2018 two researchers from the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) wrote a book, entitled Why We Should Privatise the ABC and How to Do It. Continue reading »
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PETER DONNAN. Pell-mell and reform paths in Catholic media
What type of underlying values were revealed by the Australian media, particularly Catholic media, in their reporting of Cardinal Pell’s successful appeal to the High Court? Clearly the case was polarising in Australian cultural life, and has been described in terms of a ‘witch-hunt’, ’scapegoating’, ‘prejudicial’ legally ‘appalling’ and reflecting very poorly on the ABC, Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 3 May 2020
Two stories from India: creating environmentally sustainable, healthy cities for the post-COVID world and the installation of cheap solar energy signals the end of coal. Plus, Joseph Stiglitz summarises some principles the Australian government should adopt post-COVID, a literary interlude and a summary of carbon capture and storage. Continue reading »
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SATURDAY’s GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
What people in other forums are saying about public policy Continue reading »
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JOCELYN CHEY. Who Would Be a Chinese Ambassador?
I write in defence of PRC Ambassador Cheng Jingye, who is accused of threatening a tit-for-tat trade war. Continue reading »
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JOSEPH A. CAMILLERI. Covid-19 – Lessons Not Yet Learnt
For weeks now Covid-19 has dominated the world’s media. We’ve had endless facts, advice and commentary on the virus itself, the number of deaths and infections, the level of testing, the do’s and don’ts of hygiene and social distancing, the flattening of the curve, and much else. But on the underlying significance of the pandemic Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Google and Facebook versus News Corp/Nine as Australia’s newspapers are declared “terminal”
With Australians about to lose their local and metropolitan newspaper coverage the competition watchdog sent to the rescue is facing the prospect of litigation from tech giants Google and Facebook. Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. Pandemics, paradoxes and the Federal system
There is still a question as we continue to confront the coronavirus whether the Constitution with respect to health and education needs clarification so that the imposition of border closures, regional lockdowns, school closures, etc., and decisions having legal implications, can be better determined. Continue reading »
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Balance the boat
Morrison and Dutton fail to understand the United States and China and what ought to be the nature of our relationship with them. LNP ideology rules. It is out of date and proving harmful. Continue reading »
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WANG GUNGWU. The China lesson (East Asia Forum 26.4.20)
In the months since the Wuhan lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, there is reason to feel sadder if not wiser. How quickly the Beijing government gathered its national resources to help the province of Hubei was impressive. Continue reading »
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JUDITH WHITE. Funding, local content and the future of Australian culture
There can be no question that the arts have taken an enormous hit in the pandemic. Token support from governments is not the answer. The crisis requires not only a bailout, but a re-examination of cultural policies in the digital age. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL POWELL Morrison seeking unimpeded power
Conservatives always seek unimpeded power and Scott Morrison is no exception. Some cynics suggest this is a ‘right to rule’ mentality, but it is not. It is a duty. A ‘right to rule’ is arrogance; a ‘duty’ is more sinister because it is steeped in moral certainty. Continue reading »
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MIKE SCRAFTON. Regulation, tariffs and reform of supply chains.
The political leaders that brought us global supply chains, hollowed out public services, and dwindling administrative capacity, are potentially about to find themselves in a series of contradictions. Continue reading »